North Vancouver golden boy Indigo Diaz pitched to some of the best stats on his team at the World Baseball Classic.
Although Canada didn’t make it past the pool round at the tourney, Diaz gave up no earned runs in his 1.2 innings against the powerhouse United States team and just one in his 1.2 innings against Mexico. The 24-year-old right hander pitched 3.1 innings with four strikeouts in his two games played.
Canada finished the Classic with a record of two wins (against Colombia and Great Britain) and two losses (against the U.S.A. and Mexico). Team U.S.A. and Japan will face off in the much-anticipated final Tuesday evening in Miami, FL.
Diaz has been in the minor system for three seasons after being picked by the Atlanta Braves in the 27th round of the 2019 MLB draft. He's in the New York Yankees organization and is expected to join the Yankees’s AAA affiliate after the Classic.
He struck out 63 batters in just under 50 innings with the Mississippi Braves in the AA Southern League. His breakout year was in 2021, striking out 85 batters across 45 innings to earn the AA promotion.
Diaz got his start pitching for Forest Hills Little League before moving on to the North Shore Twins and Coquitlam Reds organizations. He then pitched two seasons of college ball at Iowa Western before playing as a junior with the NCAA’s Michigan State Spartans, striking out 50 batters in 42 innings with a 5.91 ERA.
At the Classic, the North Vancouver product joined big-leaguers like Freddie Freeman (Los Angeles Dodgers), Cal Quantrill (Cleveland Guardians) and Matt Brash (Seattle Mariners) on Team Canada.
